Here we are on day Wednesday of our holiday which happened last week; we’re back home and back to normal now and it seems we made it home just in time to be greeted by the cold weather – it’s the wind, it must be from the north or something.

Anyway, last week on Wednesday we visited the Asklepion, on Kos. We walked there from the town, it’s only four kilometres each way, and arrived early, so early that we had the place to ourselves, for most of the time at least. “Asklepion was an institution where healers were curing their patients, trying to systematize medicine and teaching other people the art of healing. It was also the temple of the gods who in one way or another were concerned with medicine.” It is an ancient site on tree terraces rising up to give you a wonderful view across the sea to Bodrum, Turkey.

Not long before we left, a teenage school party arrived. They all sat on the bottom steps and listened silently to a lecture given by a teacher and then, when that was done, applauded politely and started to browse the stones and monuments; all very well behaved and polite I thought. A few greeted us as we were leaving too. That’s another nice thing about living around here, you don’t feel threatened by teenagers as you do elsewhere in the world.

We walked back, passing through a small village on the way and stopping for coffee: two huge mugs of coffee and a small bottle of water each, total €4.00 – you don’t see much of that kind of pricing on Symi, sadly. The walk back took us past the ancient Odeum, the theatre, and through the Western Excavations, and finally back to the Museum restaurant for lunch. This was another affair that concerned a large salad to share, garlic bread, and a very nice main dish each too; I had soutzoukakia, but I can’t remember what Neil ate as a free ouzo was also involved. I do remember that we didn’t need to eat again that day.

The evening was an interesting thing. At the hotel we were staying at were also some Syrian refugees, and we got chatting to a couple. A young man, in his early 20s, called Husam (whose name means ‘sword’ in Arabic) told us that he came from a small town called Anabil, near Damascus. He and his friends had left all they had behind to come to Europe, becasue back home it was a case of ‘kill or be killed,’ and they felt that had no choice. There was a large group at the hotel, with their mobile phones, smartly dressed, they were professional people, they had the means to travel and stay, and were looking relaxed and happy to be on their way.

But behind that, they also said that they had had to swim the last 200 meters from the boat to the European shore, at night. Once the made it safely shore they registered at the port police and then, once ‘processed’ there, had been able to buy a boat ticket to Athens. While they were waiting they had booked into the hotel and spent the day outside it chatting and waiting.

As this particular group was preparing to leave, we were having a drink on the front terrace. They were all crowding around their bench like a group of students on holiday taking each other’s photos as keepsakes for when they finally went their separate ways. Neil went across and offered to take a group shot. They all ended up on the steps of the hotel, with Neil taking various images on various iPhones and the like before they headed of for the night boat to Athens.

The guys at the hotel then told us that Kos was receiving around 150 such refuges per day, being so close to Bodrum. To us, it looked like the port police were well set up to deal with them, there was a large military tent on their forecourt, I assume for those who didn’t have money, and as a place to wait out of the elements. Husam and his friend Abdul were heading off to Norway and Sweden, where they had relatives already settled, as for the others, I have no idea, but they were certainly very happy to have reached Greece and were looking forward to moving on. Husam (whose English was nigh on perfect) wanted us to mention his story and to also mention that not everyone was a privileged as he. Of course, not all refuges are as well off, lucky or successful; I’m just talking about who we met and what we were told as their story.

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You remember how yesterday we were heading off from Rhodes to Kos for the second of our ‘two centre’ holiday? Well, before we get on that boat I just want to add a correction; thanks to Trevor from Rhodes who kindly sent in this message:

“Hi from Faliraki. Just read on the blog you have been to Saffron again. In the blog it says there are just 2 Indian restaurants on Rhodes. There are 4. One In Pefkos, only open in season. Likewise the one in Lindos. The 4th one is in Ialyssos & is called Sartaj. www.sartajindianrhodes.com – It is open all year.”

Very useful information for everyone visiting Rhodes who, like us, fancies an Indian meal. While we’re talking about meals, if I listed everything we had during our holiday you’d think me very greedy (I am) but I thought it might also show what variety there can be found. It’s not all Greek to me if you know where to look. For example, on Rhodes, we also ate at an Asian fast food place, opposite the Hondas Centre, where a huge plate of noodles was only €2.50; good stuff if you are on a budget. We also ate at Koukous where you can find Greek plates and some unusual mezethes, which make a nice change.

But, because the boat on Tuesday left at 08.00 we didn’t really have time for our all included Lydia Hotel (€40.00 a night for a double room) breakfast, so we ate on the boat, a ‘Dodekanisos Express toasty’ and some coffee (coffee only €1.20). The route we were taking took us to three islands we’d never seen before, apart from when standing on the top of a hill on Symi and seeing a slight smudge on the horizon. We called into Halki first.

That was some kind of magical experience: the weather was calm and the sea flat. The approach to the island was smooth and there was such an air of calm that the tranquillity of the scene smothered the sound of the boat, it was like gliding in on silence. The population had come out to meet the boat, all seven of them (I’m only joking) and there was a brief exchange of ropes and gossip and the provisions were unloaded (four cabbages) before we glided out again.

Next to Tilos where a similar welcome awaited us, a few more people this time and a crash barrier to hold them all back (15) which was a good safety measure. Still the sun was shining and the air was warm. And, as you can see from one of my snaps, the boat was not exactly busy. At one point there was more staff than passengers.

And so on towards Nisyros. The arrival here is not a picturesque as the ferry doesn’t pull into the main port, but still, nice and calm and only the faintest whiff of volcano in the air. And then, about three and a half hours after leaving Rhodes, we pulled into Kos, which was slightly busier, but only very slightly. A walk with our back backs around the harbour to our pre-booked hotel, more about that another day, and checking in to our harbour-view room, and it was time to stock up on lunch.

Actually, we sat in the sun and had a pre-lunch snifter first, to celebrate finally arriving at our holiday destination; something we’d been looking forward to since the start of the summer. And then a wander around the centre of town for somewhere to eat and a stumble upon the Museum Restaurant that has an extensive menu and everything (apart from asparagus sauce) available and a wonderful lunch.

And so, the holiday really kicked off. We were a bit full from lunch still but managed to share a pizza in the evening after plenty of wandering around including a visit to some of the ancient sites that litter the town. Again, more about them another day when there should also be, I hope, some decent images from Neil to share.

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We should be getting back to normal now, blog-wise, kind of. We took last week off and went on a short holiday to Rhodes and Kos; we’re back now and the rest of this week is probably going to read like a ‘what I did on my holiday’ session like we used to do at school a long, long time ago. But bear with me and you might find some of what’s to come of interest.

So, just over a week ago, bags packed, and including six kilos of dumbbells as Neil was determined to carry on his weights while away, we set off down the Kali Strata for the afternoon boat. Pausing outside the old Symi Gallery to wait while Neil went back to collect the jacket he’d forgotten, I saw only two people; it was a quiet afternoon. But, as it turned out, not a quiet boat. Lots of day-trippers from Rhodes, mainly locals, and a few tourist, had come over for a Sunday on Symi, making the ‘Express’ a busy boat on the way over.

In Rhodes the Christmas lights are already up, and the hotel had a tree in reception; obviously ordered in a moment of wild abandon and no regard for size or proportion, they’d had to cut the top off to get it in, but it looked festive. Sunday night involved a trip to Saffron, one of only two Indian restaurants on the island, and, as we were the only customers, a long and interesting chat with the people who were working there. All family run, the nationalities involved included Japanese, Egyptian and, on our last visit, Greek, German and (I think) Iranian. The chefs are from India and the food is very nice thank you.

Monday: a walk around the town and up to the Acropolis and stadium in the sun, and then on (and on) to the hospital to visit Yiannis (Rainbow) who was there waiting for an operation. It’s one of those strange quirks of town planning that you can see the hospital for miles around, as it’s right up there on the cliff top, but walking to it is a bit of a gamble and, if you’re not careful you might end up arriving in an ambulance: no pavements along the main road, only in the areas where there are shops and turnings and where cars have to drive more safely.

We were back and forth across the path of incoming traffic trying to find somewhere safe to walk. But we got there, took the family by surprise, said hello, handed over a couple of his favourite sports newspapers and then, feet aching somewhat, caught a taxi back to Mandraki for lunch.

The boat to Kos was Tuesday morning, so we’ll talk about that tomorrow, but the rest of Monday was spent in wandering around the usual sites of the new town and having a light supper at ‘Koukous.’ There, that’s days one and two dealt with, tomorrow it’s on to Kos via a quick look at Halki, Tilos and Nisyros.

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And finally in our week-long advertising campaign, if you’ve missed anything, if you would like to order one of my books but also want to order some other items at the same time, you can use our Amazon store.

Just click to the page and there you will see all of my books and novels, a list of those by Anne Zouroudi, other books about Greece, or set in Greece, maps and guides, holiday reading, all kinds of photography stuff and loads of other ideas for gifts. Every item bought via our store benefits us by a tiny-weeny per cent and every little helps!

Simply click here for our Amazon recommendations.

Or, why not check out some of Niel’s photos at his new Photobox gallery where you can order prints and mugs and other things. Click here to explore (still in its early stages). http://www.photoboxgallery.com/4073451

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And today’s advertisement is not for a book, it’s for Neil’s 2015 Symi calendar.

These are now only available from our shop front at Lulu.com, as they say on the TV adverts, ‘You can’t buy them in the shops,’ and that’s quite true, you can’t. If you are a calendar user, or know someone who is, then this is what you want on your wall, or theirs, throughout next year. We use one, we have it in our kitchen where it is ‘kitchen proof,’ not exactly ‘wipe clean’ but it’s survived a steamy environment for this year so far. There are 12 images of Symi, each one, usually, taken during the month it represents.

So, rather than describe the thing to you I’ll just supply the link and then you can head to Lulu and order copies; there is an online preview to flick through if you want to see all the images. The process is easy, you may need to register but that’s quick and simple, and the payment method is very secure. We’ve been using them for years and have had no hassles.

So, you can order Symi calendars online by clicking to Lulu here.

(You can also find our books at Lulu.com at the Symi Dream storefront here.)

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